Paul Tazewell

American costume designer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Tazewell (born September 15, 1964) is an American costume designer for the theatre, dance, film, opera and television. After training at New York University Tisch School of the Arts he started his career on Broadway. He has since won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award.

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Tazewell made his Broadway debut as a costume designer with Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in 1996. He went on to receive the Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (2016). His other Tony-nominated works include The Color Purple (2006), In the Heights (2008), Memphis (2010), A Streetcar Named Desire (2012), Ain't Too Proud (2019), MJ (2022), and Suffs (2024).

For his work on Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (2021), Tazewell became the first African American male costume designer to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. He eventually won the award as well for his work on Wicked (2024) at the 97th Academy Awards.[1][2] He has also received a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on The Wiz Live! (2016).

Early life and education

Tazewell was born on September 15, 1964 in Akron, Ohio.[3][4] He enrolled at Pratt Institute then transferred and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.[5] Tazewell was a resident artist and associate professor of costume design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2003–2006).[6][7]

His brother, Jonathan Tazewell, is also an award winning writer and director of the feature film "Gotta Get Down To It" and other short films, including his film, "Breezewood".[8] Jonathan Tazewell is the Thomas S. Turgeon Professor of Drama and Film at Kenyon College in Ohio, and founded the college's film major.

Career

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Tazewell has designed costumes for over a dozen Broadway productions, starting with Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in 1996 (receiving a Tony Award nomination). Over Tazewell's career, he has costumed numerous plays that are predominantly African American and Latino.[9] Other musicals include On the Town (Revival), The Color Purple, and, in 2009, Guys and Dolls (Revival) and Memphis. Recent Broadway work includes Dr Zhivago, Side Show, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Plays on Broadway have included Lombardi, The Miracle Worker (Revival), Magic/Bird and the Tony Award-winning revival of A Raisin in the Sun. His off-Broadway work as a costume designer includes Hamilton, Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2001), Boston Marriage (2002), Ruined, One Flea Spare, Flesh and Blood, and Harlem Song (Apollo Theater).

In regional theatre he has designed costumes for, among many, Alley Theatre (Camp David, 2020), Arena Stage (The Women, 1999, and Polk County, 2002), The Guthrie Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. His work for ballet companies includes the Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet. Opera credits at Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, ENO, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Tazewell served as costume designer on Wicked and Wicked: For Good, the film adaptations of the Broadway musical. His work on Wicked won him the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Tazewell is the first Black man to win an Oscar for costume design and the second Black costume designer to win overall after Ruth E. Carter.[10]

Personal life

Tazewell is openly gay.[11]

Credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

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He is recipient of nine total Tony Award nominations for Costume Design, four Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, two Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, the Henry Hewes Award, and the Theater Development Fund's Irene Sharaff Award in 1997. He received Princess the Grace Statue Award bestowed by the Princess Grace Foundation to artists of excellence in various disciplines.[5]

More information Year, Association ...
Year Association Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2022Academy AwardsBest Costume DesignWest Side StoryNominated
2025WickedWon
2025American Cinematheque's Tribute to the CraftsCostume DesignWon
2020Black Reel AwardsOutstanding Costume DesignHarrietNominated
2022West Side StoryNominated
2025WickedWon
2025British Academy Film AwardsBest Costume DesignWon
2021Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest Costume DesignWest Side StoryNominated
2024WickedNominated
2016Costume Designers Guild AwardsExcellence in Fantasy TelevisionThe Wiz Live!Nominated
2019Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live TelevisionJesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!Nominated
2021HamiltonWon
2022Excellence in Period FilmWest Side StoryNominated
2025Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy FilmWickedWon
2022Critics' Choice Movie AwardsBest Costume DesignWest Side StoryNominated
2025WickedWon
2015Drama Desk AwardsOutstanding Costume DesignHamiltonNominated
2024Outstanding Costume Design of a MusicalSuffsWon
2015Laurence Olivier AwardsBest Costume DesignMemphisNominated
2018HamiltonNominated
1998Lucille Lortel AwardsOutstanding Costume DesignOn the TownWon
2015HamiltonWon
2016Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality ProgramThe Wiz Live!Won
2018Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!Nominated
2025Santa Barbara International Film FestivalVariety Artisans Award
(costume design)
WickedWon
2025Satellite AwardsBest Costume DesignWon
1996Tony AwardsBest Costume DesignBring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da FunkNominated
2006Best Costume Design in a MusicalThe Color PurpleNominated
2008In the HeightsNominated
2010MemphisNominated
2012Best Costume Design in a PlayA Streetcar Named DesireNominated
2016Best Costume Design in a MusicalHamiltonWon
2019Ain't Too ProudNominated
2022MJ the MusicalNominated
2024SuffsNominated
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References

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